Silent Steel by Stephen Johnson The Mysterious Death of the Nuclear Attack Sub USS Scorpion

"The magnitude of the tragedy of the USS Scorpion is matched only by the depth of the mystery surrounding her loss. Stephen Johnson has done a remarkable job of shining new light on this dark moment in U.S. submarine history."--Sherry Sontag, coauthor of Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage

"What happened to the USS Scorpion? The question has vexed submariners for almost four decades. Now, with meticulous research and incredible attention to detail, Stephen Johnson examines and dissects one of the most tragic and mysterious submarine accidents in U.S. Navy history."--Douglas Waller, author of Big Red: Inside the Secret World of a Trident Nuclear Submarine

"Stephen Johnson has crafted a forensic masterpiece that leads the reader back through time to unravel the gnawing enigma of the tragic 1968 loss of the nuclear attack submarine USS Scorpion. Sifting through a maze of conflicting theories, he meticulously lays out a tale of undersea detectives searching for conclusive evidence to one of the most baffling mysteries of the cruel sea."--Rear Admiral Thomas Evans, author, analyst specializing in submarine history and operations, and former officer on the Scorpion

"The manuscript arrived with yesterday's afternoon mail. I finished reading it by nightfall. It's that good! Thoroughly researched, impeccably documented, with an appealing and literate style, Silent Steel should become essential reading for submarine enthusiasts and for anyone else who enjoys an engaging and informative yarn."--A. J. Hill, author of Under Pressure: The Final Voyage of Submarine S-Five

Veteran journalist STEPHEN JOHNSON first wrote about the Scorpion in a series of articles for the Houston Chronicle from 1993 to 1995 and assisted documentary makers and authors researching the disaster, including the authors of the bestselling Blind Man's Bluff. Johnson has discussed the Scorpion on Nova's Submarines, Secrets, and Spies and on The History Channel.

Unrated Critic Reviews for Silent Steel

Kirkus Reviews

Prime among them: weapons glitches, including a “hot run” malfunction in which a torpedo’s engine started while it was still lodged in its firing tube and the inadvertent release of a dummy homing torpedo that, had it been live, could have returned to kill the sub (still favored by some speculato...